Personality and Assessment

When I started this book I intended to survey six or seven equally
viable alternative theoretical approaches to personality and to examine
the implications of each for personality assessment, psychotherapy, and
research. In the course of this writing, the field has changed substantially and the book and my views along with it. Although a half dozen
or more alternative conceptualizations each appeared to be about
equally reasonable a decade ago, the list of serious contenders now
seems much shorter. This change has occurred mainly because of the
voluminous and vigorous empirical researches that have become available in recent years. The resulting evidence makes it possible to start
choosing among approaches on the basis of empirical evidence rather
than personal preference.

Research findings at this time permit one in the personality area
to go much beyond the traditional chronicling of different broad views
of man accompanied by the usual illustrations of studies and techniques that seem compatible with each of these perspectives. Instead,
it now should be possible to evaluate basic assumptions and personality
concepts not only abstractly but also in light of their specific empirical
yield. The value of these ideas about personality is tested nowhere
more clearly than in their contributions to the prediction and change
of important psychological events in the life of the individual. This
book therefore is especially attentive to evidence from the areas of personality prediction and personality change. It also should be possible
now to extend principles emerging from basic research on personality
and social behavior to facilitate personality assessment and therapeutic
change. In this effort I am relying heavily on a synthesis of concepts

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